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Native Americans and the White House: Prehistory to 1924

Classroom Resource Packet

President Coolidge Meets with Committee of One Hundred

President Calvin Coolidge meets with members of the Committee of One Hundred on the South Grounds of the White House (1923).

Library of Congress

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For thousands of years before construction of the White House began in 1792, Native Americans, including the Nacotchtank (also referred to as the Anacostan) and Piscataway people, lived in the region that is now Washington, D.C. As the United States expanded westward throughout the 1800s, thousands of Native Americans were forced from their ancestral lands. Presidents played a significant role in the implementation of harmful federal policies that disregarded Indigenous treaties and led to violence, displacement, and forced relocation. For over two hundred years, Native Americans have come to the White House to meet with presidents, share their cultural heritage, and advocate for Indigenous rights.

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